A major perk of being a CreativeLive artist-in-residence (beyond the delicious food and awesome people) is the all-access pass you get to the CreativeLive catalog of courses. Each week, our first artist-in-residence, Madeline Trait, will let you in on what she is learning, and share what prompted her big “a-ha!” moment.

This week’s moment came as she was watching Kari Chapin’s Start a Handmade Business. The advice? Use Pinterest boards to create profiles of your ideal customer.

Buyer personas are an essential part of marketing any successful craft marketing business, but creating a useful, interactive, visual one can be difficult. During her class, Kari presented the genius idea of using beautiful wormhole known as Pinterest to inform craft sellers about their potential customers by pinning images that represent their ideal clients. Rather than using a static document or physical mood-board, Pinterest allows handmade business owners to really imagine who might be buying their wares, while also finding inspirational ideas.

The suggestion resonated with Madeline.

“It is always hard to make up people to represent your ideal client, but using Pinterest helps visualize that person – how they live and what they like. Knowing these things will help me sell to them.”

Madeline says she’s been putting the suggestion into practice, and has already created a buyer persona pinboard. The tip even inspired her in real-life. On her morning run, Madeline passed a few shops that represented the lifestyle she sees her clients living, and she says she’ll be pinning those storefronts to her board.

Having a more coherent picture of a customer’s daily life is a great way to see where you and your products can fit right in — and Pinterest is perfect for that. Who knew the site had such applicable business planning potential?

If you want to follow Madeline on Pinterest, you can do so right here — and stay tuned to find out what else she’s learned from CreativeLive!